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City Building and Local Structure
A. City-Building Guide City Building Guide This is a first draft of your step-by-step guide for city planning and development for the 2013 Requiem Chronicle. Please share this with your fellow Storytellers, of any genre that you believe could benefit from it. Please note that this is in no way set in stone; everything is up for debate. In the interests of transparency, we are offering this to you for consideration. Much of this has already been somewhat fleshed out, but we want to make sure that you're on board with it before we polish anything. Also keep in mind that you can reverse these steps, especially if your city has some less experienced folks who'd like more guidance on character development. This is structured to build strong, enjoyable characters, then merge them together. It is just as valid to work out a concept of what your city is like, and then develop characters that fit within that city and are a vital part of your overall vision. This will also include notes about the setting, so that new concepts can be included early on in your planning, rather than trying to force them into place after the world has already been built. Please send along any questions to me as the Requiem Development Team Lead at jon (dot) herrmann (at) gmail, and I’ll be glad to help however I can. Thank you! I. Personal Guide A. First, each player should consider what will be fun for him or her. What kind of person do they want to play? Try to consider what kind of human this character was before Embrace, then develop the concept from there. For more information on how to build a well-developed character, see the Storyteller Education website. http://www.mindseyesociety.org/usnst/ B. Second, each player must think through how this character fits into the Requiem world. How does this PC relate to others? If the answer is one-dimensional, such as “He seduces them.” or “She kills them.” Then you may have a one-dimensional PC that won’t be much fun for you. Worse, a concept like that may actively take away from others’ enjoyment of the game. We’re all in this to help each other have a good time, so concepts that especially ruin others’ fun should be carefully considered, submitted to the Storyteller well in advance, and conscientiously worked on until they can add to your fun without taking away from others’ fun, or else scrapped in favor of something more cooperative. This does not mean that the *characters* must cooperate, but that the players must cooperate. The players can cooperate to create rivals or enemies that never cooperate in character, for example, but which generate fun for one another out of character. C. Third, reflect that concept accurately on paper. If the concept is a master craftsperson, then ensure the skills reflect that. If the concept is ancient sage, then consider whether Computer skills are very appropriate. If the concept is former law enforcement or military, then don’t just take Firearms, but also a little Brawl, a little Melee, some Academics (tactics or law), perhaps a little Drive, and so on. People are not one-dimensional; characters should not be, either. D. Fourth, apply the supernatural template, selecting Clan, Covenant (if any), Blood Potency, Disciplines, etc. Do not select a Bloodline yet; there may be changes to several Bloodlines. Consider whether you would enjoy playing a particular Clan even if the Bloodline were denied. If not, then reconsider your character’s Clan. Now you’re ready to move to the next steps. Keep your local Storytellers informed about your progress through steps II and III, so they’re ready for step IV. II. Clan Guide A. Contact other members of your PC’s Clan. These contacts should be at least local, but you can certainly reach out more broadly through personal emails and contacts with lists. There are a number of lists already set up to help you reach out to other players considering the same Clan to develop common backgrounds. B. Talk with other players locally, in person or over electronic communication, about what the Clan is like in the city. Is the Clan populous or few and far between? What will that mean? Are the members of the Clan likely to be powerful forces in the city, or do they stay in the background? Is there enmity between certain Clans? Jot down a few notes. Even one paragraph will be very useful to new players coming into the city, either as visitors or recruits, to get a good feel for Who’s Who in the city. As the Chronicle goes on, the players can help the ST’s keep that short information section updated, either as ST notes, on a Wiki, or in the Venue Style Sheet. C. Think about Clan history. How has the Clan been within the city? Are they powerful now, but were once outcasts, or vice versa? Are they in the background because of some event? While these ideas are far from set in stone, players can absolutely think up notions to help out the Storytellers. These ideas can be offered up for the overall history development (see below). D. Pull together a summary of opinions about other Clans in your city. This can be just a line each, but still needs to exist. Taken all together, the Clan notes shouldn’t need more than a page- something that could be handed to a new or visiting player thinking about playing that Clan in your city. III. Covenant Guide (See also the attached Covenant summary documents) A. Repeat the steps you went through for Clan, contacting others for personal backgrounds, then considering the Covenant situation at the start of Chronicle, then working backwards from there to develop a Covenant history and feelings towards other Clans. B. The issue of rivalry is especially important for Covenants. Covenants, other than the Ordo Dracul, are each set up with a specific rival. These Covenants should not be very friendly, regardless. Carthians who are too similar to the Invictus, or vice versa, should not advance in their Covenant Status easily, if at all. The same is true for Sanctified who are too friendly with Acolytes and vice versa. Consider how those divisions will affect your characters specifically. C. At this stage, don’t start planning for Regional and National level; just focus on the city. More on the aspects affecting larger geographical areas below. D. Storytellers: Pull these various ideas together into a draft plan before you have the city meeting (Step IV). Keep in mind why the history exists, and what it does for your story. Think about key events, and keep dates at least somewhat flexible. IV. Stitching the city together A. Time to get the players together. Ideally, this is a physical, in-person meeting, but a virtual meeting is better than none at all. The Storytellers will present first, talking through the ideas they have pieced together. At this point, players should focus on really understanding the entirety of the history the Storytellers have in mind, and how they see the Chronicle at its starting point. B. Only after the entire history has been presented should players start commenting, because things can easily get out of hand, lose focus, and result in a not-very-productive gathering. One way to help address that is to present the history on a posterboard, or at least have a timeline on paper. As each event is brought up, players who would like to comment on that event raise their hands. The ST’s count hands and note the number of players who want to talk about that event next to each event. Then, after the history presentation is complete, talk about the events in order of popularity, so that the events that are most important to the most players get discussed, and if time runs out, the events left undiscussed are those that mattered to the fewest players. Those events can also be addressed over local email lists if necessary. C. Covenant rivalry. This point deserves special attention. Compare the number and power level of the players intending to play in each Covenant, and talk through what that means to the city (this may require an additional meeting beyond the history meeting; it’s a big topic, and can require a lot of discussion in some cities). If there are twenty players, and twelve want to play Invictus, then the city is pretty clearly going to reflect that. That I even more true if four of the remaining eight players want to play Sanctified. In that case, the city may be actively hostile to Carthians, and possibly even to Acolytes. Some sample city relationship structures include: 1. Balanced. If each of the Covenants has several members, and they are all approximately on par, then the city is a careful balance. A sample story element that can come out of this is cautious competition; no one Covenant wants to be too aggressive for fear of others teaming up to counter them, but each wants to subtly increase their power. 2. Predominant. If one Covenant is the most powerful and populous in the game, consider making your city reflect that very strictly. An Invictus-predominant city may require Oaths from all residents, have clear rules about formal titles, and so on. Carthians may be banned, or at the very least heavily handicapped. A city of predominantly Dragons may have very broad rules about travel through others’ territory in the streets and in public areas (to allow for observation and experimentation) but very strict rules about entering others’ claimed buildings (to protect secrecy). 3. Alliance. If two traditionally allied Covenants are together the most populous and powerful (either Invictus plus Sanctified or Carthians plus Acolytes), then the city should reflect that. An Invictus-Sanctified city (IS) should be strict, codified, not favor religious tolerance, and openly play the Danse Macabre. A Carthian-Acolyte city (CA) should be more tolerant of a variety of views, try new things, be more prone to taking risks (after all, you either succeed or face tribulation for further enlightenment), and have a variety of projects ongoing at any given time that are not obviously part of the Danse Macabre. 4. These are not the only structures, of course, but just a few ideas to get you started. Keep in mind that it can be fun to be oppressive in character, so long as the city isn’t oppressive out of character. Playing a kindred who is secretly Carthian working behind the scenes to undermine a heavily Invictus city can be exciting, yet risky. D. Change mechanisms. Perhaps the most important part of city building is how to address change. Characters will die off or be retired, and the new characters that replace them are rarely the same Clan or Covenant. New players will join. The balance of power will shift over time. How will the city handle that? Make the rules on how to make the rules now. Consider if the Prince has full power, and a change in the Prince changes everything (as in some Invictus cities), or if there are laws in place of some kind (especially in Carthian cities), or if there are no laws, but there are established traditions (not just the Traditions) that all Covenants follow. The first is easy to change, but encourages PC death- just remove one character and it’s all up for grabs. The second is harder to change, but is most effectively changed through political maneuvering. The third is hardest to change. Regardless, think about which rules you want to be forever, which rules you want to be changeable, and set up methods to make changes to things that you do not want to be permanent. V. Local Clan authority (with thanks to the Australian Requiem staff) A. The local leader of a Clan is the Priscus, as decided by local PCs, with disputes being decided as per the book rules; whoever has the most Clan Status plus City Status is the leader. As a local leader, the Priscus can manipulate the Clan Status of anyone physically within their Domain. They can do this once each month. B. The second position available for Clan Status manipulation is the Clan Whip. There are no mechanics for deciding a Clan Whip, so any dispute over the position will need to be resolved IC with role play. As a local leader, the Clan Whip can manipulate the Clan Status of anyone physically within their Domain. They can do this once each month. VI. Local Covenant Status and Positions (again, thanks to our Aussie brethren) A. Invictus: The Leader of the Invictus is the Prince, or if there is no Invictus Prince, then the Primus. Disputes over the position of Primus are worked out IC with role play. A Prince or Primus can manipulate the Invictus Status of those physically within their Domain once each month. The second position able to manipulate Status is a Judex. A Judex chosen by members of the Invictus in dispute has the ability to manipulate the Invictus Status of any Invictus involved in that dispute by one, either up or down. This is not a monthly limitation; if a Judex is called upon to resolve multiple disputes in a month then he can use his full powers to manipulate Status in each case. B. The leader of the Lancea Sanctum at a local level is the Bishop. Disputes over which character is Bishop should be resolved IC with role play. A Bishop has the ability to manipulate the Status of the Lancea Sanctum Status physically within their Domain once each month. The second position is that of the Inquisitor. An Inquisitor is usually appointed by a Bishop. Inquisitors have the ability to manipulate Status within their Domain once each month. Generally speaking, members of the Sanctified tend to feel lucky if an Inquisitor only manipulates their Status, given their usually wide ranging powers to investigate heresy. C. The leader of the Dracul locally is usually considered to be the Head of the Blue, except in times of war in which the Head of the Red leads. These local heads of the Sworn can manipulate the Dracul Status of those physically within their Domain once each month. Additionally, a Juris Draconis has the ability to manipulate the Dracul Status of both the plaintiff and the defendant by one, either up or down, as a result of the findings of the Juris Draconis. The Judges are not limited geographically, only to those within the case they are judging. D. Carthians-The leader of the Carthians locally is the Prefect. Any dispute over the position of Prefect is resolved through roleplay. As a local leader, the Prefect can manipulate the Carthian Status of those physically within their Domain. They can do this once each month. The second position within the Carthians able to change Covenant Status is the Myrmidon. There are no mechanics for deciding a Myrmidon, so any dispute over the position will need to be resolved IC with role play. As a local judge, the Myrmidon can manipulate the Carthian Status of those physically within their Domain. They can do this once each month. E. Acolytes- The leader of the Crone locally is the Hierophant. Any dispute over the position of Hierophant is resolved through roleplay. As a local leader, the Hierophant can manipulate the Crone Status of anyone physically within their Domain. They can do this once each month. The second position within the Crone able to change Covenant Status is the Haruspex. There are no mechanics for deciding a Haruspex, so any dispute over the position will need to be resolved IC with role play. As a local judge of the will of the gods, the Haruspex can manipulate the Crone Status of anyone physically within their Domain. They can do this once each month. F. By implementing each of these local offices, each able to affect Status within their group, Status should become more fluid. Kindred society is very much about what one has done lately, and despite (or perhaps because of) the immortality of the players, the game is still very much one of up-to-the-minute gains or losses.